Chapter 356

“Can it be fixed?”

“I would have preferred it to be completely destroyed rather than dealing with this. It’s not easy to dismantle this rubble and rebuild, and... the way this stone wall has been turned into this round shape...”

The laborers were sweating profusely as they tried to dismantle the city wall, but it was not an easy task.

“Even with our skills, it seems impossible to restore. It might be better to completely destroy and rebuild—”

“How long would that take?”

“Even if we try to blast everything, clear the rubble, and rebuild the city wall as quickly as possible, it would still take more than four months...”

The laborer lowered his head as if ashamed.

Four months of practically leaving a hole for external invaders to exploit. During that time, the number of people trying to infiltrate the city, exposed to danger, would decrease.

Changed city walls, collapsed buildings, a dead knight order, and news of the invasion had caused the population to dwindle.

“Ugh... This is maddening.”

Leeha was a sharpshooter, a musketeer.

He had an enormous single attack power of over 30,000, but such abilities were of no help in fixing the city walls.

―You’re here? How does it feel? Not as easy as you thought, right?

At that moment, just when he felt like crying, the voice that resonated in Leeha’s mind was like a ray of light.

―Ram Hwayeon!!!!

Leeha couldn’t help but call her name, filled with sincerity.

***

As Ram Hwayeon sifted through documents at Castle Dale’s inner court, her face flushed.

“Sis, your face...”

“Huh? Ah, well, it’s nothing, Hwajung.”

Ram Hwayeon hurriedly raised the documents to cover her face.

Ram Hwajung gave her sister a deadpan look, then spun around in her chair.

“Lady Ram Hwayeon, aren’t you making the room messy like that?”

“Uh.”

“Ugh... Stop that and you need to get used to reviewing these documents now—”

“Not doing it.”

Jacheong, who was standing by, was perplexed, but Ram Hwayeon didn’t even notice such things now.

―What, what is it? Am I so happy to see you?

“Did Highha wait for me?”

Why?

Without even having time to organize her thoughts, Leeha immediately responded to her.

―Of course! How could I not have, considering how much I’ve been thinking about you, from earlier until now!

“There’s undoubtedly someone behind this. The one who was ‘outside the opposition’ and was by Evin’s side during the national war. But who exactly could that be...?”

Since then, something had been bothering her.

“Anyway, since the war has concluded, I didn’t pay much attention to it afterwards, but now I regret it,” sighed Leeha. “If I had somehow found and exposed their identities back then, it would have been better.”

“But now it’s a situation where there’s no way,” replied Ram Hwayeon.

“What are you going to do about this? Do you have a plan? Honestly, this is the first time I’ve seen a city get destroyed like this.”

“We have to restore it, there’s no other option,” said Ram Hwayeon.

Leeha let out a sigh. “So, how are you managing external security in Castle Dale?”

“We... Hwayeon handles that. She uses some kind of magical stone, placing them like markers all over the place and then connecting them with her own mana. It creates a huge magical fishing net, blocking most infiltrations.”

Ram Hwayeon continued to explain what she knew, but even for Ram Hwayeon, the explanation wasn’t easy to grasp.

Even for a fellow mage like Ram Hwayeon, it was difficult to explain precisely. This led to the conclusion that Ram Hwayeon was likely creating some kind of boundary based on items and skills.

“R-Ramhwayeon, you’re truly a genius in Mid Earth. It’s not something I can utilize. I guess I’ll have to go back.”

“Go where?”

Leeha reached for her crystal ball, interrupting Ram Hwayeon’s explanation.

Ram Hwayeon raised an eyebrow, wondering where she was going.

“I just realized I need to contact Ramhwayeon.”

“Why so suddenly? What will you do if you suddenly disappear like this?!”

“Oh, and something I heard from that pig lord earlier, let me see... ah, never mind. Got it?”

Leeha didn’t just spend her time idly while she waited to contact Ram Hwayeon.

During the post-war recovery period, she took the time to talk to the lord NPCs and their advisors about the general aspects of city management.

Among the things she asked about, this one was the first.

“[Delegating Authority]? Are you telling me to manage everything here for a while?”

“Just wait a moment. I just need you to cover for me while I’m gone.”

Ram Hwayeon was surprised as she looked at the hologram window that appeared before her. It meant that she would have the authority over City Gaza, possibly even concerning income and higher-level decisions, for a while. But Leeha, with a warm smile, just vanished.

Left alone, Ram Hwayeon pondered the last words Leeha had left for her.

“I trust you....”

Leeha’s words unexpectedly kept Ram Hwayeon’s heart racing all day long.

The place Leeha had gone to was Hell and Vill, a fact that was revealed through her contact with Ram Hwayeon.

It was a rather simple realization, considering that Mid Earth was an online game.

“It’s surprising yet obvious. This isn’t SimCity. Whether it’s managing a city or anything else!”

Online games were not meant to be played alone.

When you have someone reliable nearby, the difficulty of online games decreases significantly.

“Bottleneck Ajusshi!”